


Let Go of your Mind

by dramaticbanjo



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, ドキドキ！プリキュア | DokiDoki! PreCure, プリキュア | PreCure | Pretty Cure Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:42:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dramaticbanjo/pseuds/dramaticbanjo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The heart is as tangible as your memories.</p><p>Or, two giant robots from space land in the middle of the Pretty Cures' Battle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Go of your Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it happened again.

It started something fell from the sky and landed with an undignified squawk, squashing the Selfish and leaving the quartet of Cures and Ira to stare at the interruption in surprise. The ‘interruption’ slowly sat up, groaning from behind a polished metal mask and opaque visor, wheels on its shoulders spinning every so often as it oriented itself.   
As it pulled itself up in a sitting position, Alice and Rikka gasped, and Makoto quickly moved to stand in front of them, “Heart! What do we do now?” The Selfish didn’t appear to be getting back up after something that large had landed on it, and Ira looked like he was as dumbstruck as they had been.   
The yellow visor to look at them when she spoke, and the Cures tensed up, as it seemed to study them for a second before it spoke.  
“Oh, slag.” Suddenly jumping up from where it had landed, it ran for a few feet, making both the Cures and Ira jump to the side to avoid it as it jumped, suddenly shifting into a vehicle and taking off down the roadway, tires squealing. Rikka was just as quick to run after it, pale blue panels of energy appearing in mid air so she could jump up higher.  
“Heart! I’ll follow it, focus on the Selfish!” Her yell seemed to snap Ira out of his daze and he sputtered, the Selfish slowly, and shakily, crawling out of the imprint of the thing that had landed on it. Mana nodded, “Be careful, Diamond!” Before jumping into the air, not allowing the Selfish a chance to catch its balance. Makoto followed suit, and Alice alongside her. 

The car, for lack of a better word in Rikka’s head, was careening down the main street, other cars forced to swerve out of the way or risk being pushed out of its way by the thick armor it had. Up above, Rikka let out a breath, watching it turn another corner and pick up speed towards the river. It didn’t seem like an enemy, and though she might not have Mana’s incredible sense for people in trouble, she could at least tell it was lost and disoriented.   
With that in mind, she gave chase again, putting in a burst of speed to leap over the bridge and land in front of it. Her landing had caused cracks to scatter across the pavement, but the screech of its tires on the road was deafening as it frantically attempted to stop, turning sideways with the pavement breaking apart from the force.   
In her head, Rikka was preparing to jump—or catch, or dodge to the side, whatever her Pretty Cure reflexes could do in time—when it gave one last effort and came to a stop, shaking like a leaf as it almost fell over from the force of it.   
She let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, while the car—though calling it that seemed awkward—reversed a few feet slowly, as if it were sizing her up to be a threat.   
The sound of heels on the ground made her glance around as the other Cures landed beside her, apparently having finished the weakened Selfish and the off guard Ira quickly.   
“Hi!” Mana was walking forwards before any of them could react, and Rikka made a sound of warning, reaching out to grab her friend’s shoulder, “I’m Cure Heart—are you okay?” The car’s engine grumbled for a moment, almost like it was going to answer her question. Putting a steadying hand on Makoto’s arm, who had shifted into a fighting stance on instinct, Alice stepped forward beside Mana, “We’re not going to hurt you.” She assured it gently, “Where did you come from?”  
“From the Lost Light.”   
The reply, after only receiving engine noises, made them jump, but Mana quickly hid her surprise, “We’re the Pretty Cure who protect Earth—what’s your name?” The car contemplated its answer for a moment, before making another grumble from its engine, “…Probably not here. There’s a crowd gathering.” Now that the car had stopped, people were slowly drawing a around them from a distance, murmuring and jostling each other for a look at what had happened. Mana made a worried face, pulling on the end of her ponytail absently as she looked around, “Oh…we need some place to talk…quietly…”  
“The business garage should be sufficient.” Alice offered, “And it’s outside of the city.” Mana snapped her fingers and made an ‘Oh!’ sound, impressed by her friend’s quick thinking, while Rikka just looked back to their new guest, “…But how are we getting it over there? It caused a pretty big scene going down the streets just now.” The engine muttered, somehow sounding sheepish, “I…panicked a little.” The car admitted, “…A lot. I panicked a lot.”   
Alice waved away their concern, pulling her cell phone from behind the ruffles of her Precure skirt, and dialing with the practiced efficiency of someone who knew exactly who they were calling, and knew they would get what they wanted. 

To his credit, Chromedome supposed his flight of panic could have ended much, much worse. He mused upon that as he rode in the back of a truck the yellow human female had called, his sensors picking up the details of the human world outside of the trailer as it traveled towards the garage where, hopefully, he could find out more of what had happened.   
He exhaled loudly, and settled down on his wheels, prepared to wait.   
Like everything else her family owned, the garage Alice had spoke of was less of a ‘garage’ and more of a completely separate housing for cars that were not used on a daily basis. A few were missing, presumably taken by her father, but there were still enough expensive and polished cars parked in neat rows to make an impression.   
Untransformed now, and holding Ai in her arms, Mana stood to the side as the strange car slowly rolled of the ramp. Though it was impossible to tell, she had the feeling it was looking around the space warily, scanning for anything that might be dangerous. Apparently finding nothing, it carefully rolled to the wide-open space by the wall and let out a sound like a sigh, but it was when the truck left that it sighed again, and shifted back to its robot form in one fluid movement. Sitting back, it made a pained sound, reaching up with one hand to gently touch the wheels on its shoulders, which now had painful looking streaks from braking on the pavement.   
While the mysterious being inspected themselves for damage, the Cures huddled in a circle, glancing at each others’ faces for a clue as how to proceed.  
“Aguri’s coming, but we still need to talk to it.” Makoto began seriously, and Mana bit her lip for a moment, “It feels bad to just call them ‘it’.” She said, “Let’s ask their name first.” Alice nodded, followed by Rikka, but the latter’s face was still cautious, “I’ll hold Ai while you do that, Mana. We don’t know how Ai might react to them.” Handing over the baby girl, the pink haired leader straightened up and sucked in a deep breath, before walking forward, her friends at a safe distance behind.   
The giant robot—for that’s what it apparently was to her—looked up at her approach, the visor and mask still covering their face, “My real name is Mana.” She said, managing a cheerful tone, and reached out with one hand to let them shake it, “Those are my friends—Alice called the truck, Makoto is next to her, and Rikka is holding Ai.” They nodded, and then looked past her to Rikka, “Er, I hope I didn’t hurt you…or anything. I’m not too good at braking suddenly.”   
“Ah, don’t worry, I’m, uh, I’m fine.”   
They nodded, and seeing Mana’s out stretched hand, hesitantly reached down to shake it with a finger and thumb, “And, I’m Chromedome.”  
“It’s nice to meet you!” Mana smiled brightly, “So, uh, do you know why you suddenly fell from the sky like that?”  
“Dunno. Suddenly appeared then when I was—when I was in recharge.” There was an odd stutter in their voice mid-sentence, making Mana frown when she caught it but Chromedome started speaking again before she could, “And I wasn’t in the Lost Light anymore, and I fell—and, uh, then I panicked a little.”   
Inwardly, Chromedome had to admit to himself that it was more than just a panic attack. His processors had suffered a minor crash from suddenly being in a new place, and the replay of memories that had made up his nightmare beforehand had not helped in anyway.   
As for the humans, he had heard about them from other Autobots that had been under Prime’s command on Earth, but he had the feeling that something slightly…different about these ones. Rodimus would call it a gut feeling, some charming colloquialism from organics.   
Something was different about this Earth. That was one Pit of a gut feeling.   
“If you don’t mind me asking…what kind of place is the lost light?” Mana asked, bringing his processor back to the present, “Is that your home?”  
“Kind of.” Cybertron hadn’t been his home in a long time, but it was hard to consider the Lost Light a home without Rewind. “Its where I live.” He tilted his helm to the side, scanners still running, but quietly, “...Where did I land?” 

A few feet back, Rikka watched the robot, Chromedome, slowly open up to Mana, as her childhood friend excitedly talked about the city and what they did as Pretty Cure. Normally, telling someone they had just met about themselves as Precure warriors would be dangerous, but telling Chromedome couldn’t do any harm, considering the situation they were in. Ai was sleeping peacefully as she gently rocked her, and to her side, Alice smiled gently, both at the scene with Mana and the baby Rikka held.  
“Everything seems to be going well, doesn’t it?” She asked, the tone of her voice said that she really wasn’t looking for an answer. Only Makoto still looked wary, her mouth set in a frown and her arms still crossed, “…Something still doesn’t feel right.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“…I don’t know exactly…but I can’t relax.” She rolled her shoulders slightly, as if trying to and proving her words correct, “Like something terrible is going to happen.” 

Far from the Yotsuba family’s private second garage, three figures stood regarding what had ruined their bowling game, and ruined the building of their favorite hideaway. Ira scowled, his hands on his hips, as this robot, that had suddenly appeared and smashed its way through the ceiling and the waxed wood of the lanes, was far, far larger than the one that had landed on his Selfish during the day. Mamo’s lips were pulled into a sneer, seething behind her fan because she had been winning that game, and now they probably wouldn’t be able to resume it anytime soon.   
As usual, Bel’s expression was unreadable behind his sunglasses.   
The robot’s red eyes studied them back, a mysterious smile on its face.  
After another minute of the silent stand off, the oldest of the Selfish trio stepped forward, taking his candy out of his mouth, “Well then, big guy, care to tell us why you fell through the roof of our bowling alley?”   
“In return, I suppose I should ask where I am.” The robot’s voice was calm and deep, but there as an edge to it that set even the agents of the Selfish kingdom on edge themselves—something that held a threat.   
“Of course—its only natural.”   
Ira opened his mouth to say something, but then the robot’s red eyes moved over to rest on him and he shut his mouth, trying to glare back defiantly. That seemed to amuse the robot, and it chuckled, “My designation is Overlord.” It leaned forward, one hand moving to support it while the low ceiling made it crawl, looming over them, “And who might you be, humans?”  
“We’re not humans—we’re agents of the Selfish kingdom!” Ira suddenly yelled, darting into the air to point at the robot’s face, ignoring Bel’s warning growl and Mamo’s sharp yelp of surprise, “We’re nothing like those weaklings! We use them to power our monsters!” Overlord seemed unperturbed at the outburst, making a small sound of interest and inclining its head towards him, “Oh, really? Then you must have mistaken my manners for me actually caring about distinctions between your species.” The red eyes made Ira swallow, throat suddenly dry, and he had to fight the urge in his stomach to run and hide. Overlord chuckled again, “Do I owe my freedom to you…Selfish kingdom?”   
Truthfully, no—the trio had been just as surprised as the robot had been when they appeared and smashed through half of the building, but Bel knew they could have an advantage with Overlord. After all, Pretty Cure attacks were specifically made to combat the darkness in human hearts, but if something like Overlord confronted them…Well, Bel doubted the silly warriors would last more than a few minutes before they became smears on to the pavement.   
“In a manner—our King’s powers are far more vast, and found your selfish desire to survive.” Lying to Overlord made even the usually impeccable agent shiver inwardly, but he hid it under a practiced poker face, “Care to cause some destruction with us?”   
The smile that grew across Overlord’s face was nightmarish.  
“I’m listening.” 

\-- -- 

Everyone, with the exception of Ai, had varying levels of guilt on their faces, even Chromedome, whose face was hidden. Aguri had her arms crossed, expression radiating disapproval, “…You don’t know where they came from, you didn’t even know their name before you revealed your secret identities as Pretty Cure and gave them a place to stay.” She said finally, and Chromedome awkwardly dragged his fingers behind his helm, almost like a human sheepishly scratching the back of their head, “…I kind of panicked a tore up the street…introductions probably wouldn’t be so good there…” In hindsight, it had actually been pretty funny, Chromedome admitted to himself; the sort of thing Rewind would both record and double over laughing about. This Aguri reminded him of Rewind, in a way, with both how small she seemed, and with how she seemed to be both young and older at the same time.   
She only seemed slightly moved by his reasoning, but turned her glare to the other Cures, “…Well, we can’t do anything about it now…I’m Aguri Madoka, and I become Cure Ace.”  
“Aguri’s really cool and strong!” Mana piped up, and quieted down just as quickly when Rikka lightly elbowed her side. Aguri ignored them.  
“Its, uh, nice to meet you, Aguri.” Leaning forward, Chromedome cocked his helm to the side curiously, “…You’re smaller than the others. Are you a mini-human?” At that, Aguri let out an indignant sound, and Ai, still in Rikka’s arms, giggled, clapping her small hands.  
“Mini--mini-human?” She sounded offended, and Chromedome belatedly thought to himself that he probably should have kept that thought in his processor. “What is that supposed to mean?”  
“There’s mini-bots where I come from…and I thought…well, you’re just smaller…” He wasn’t making it any better, and Mana quickly leapt from her seat and jogged the few steps to them, the other girls at her heels, “Aguri’s in Fourth grade, so she’s younger than us.” She quickly explained, “But when she turns into Cure Ace she looks our age.”   
In his processor, Chromedome made the mental note that humans were very strange. Instead of letting that thought out, he pointed at Ai, “And what’s that?”  
“This is Ai—she’s a baby.” And something else, but explaining how Ai had come from an egg and had magical abilities would be maybe too much. Chromedome nodded, seeming to understand, “Okay.”  
The Autobot revised his previous note: humans were extremely strange. Ai could sit on one of his finger segments, and he felt nervous even moving around her. How fragile was a human ‘baby’? Tailgate and Rewind had been two of the smallest ‘Bots Chromedome knew, and they had been pretty tough, not to mention Rewind was—had been, he amended his thought quickly—older than him.   
When he looked down at the girls, they were staring at him curiously, and he had a sinking feeling in his fuel pump, “…I said that out loud, didn’t I?”  
“A little.” Mana said sheepishly, tugging at a lock of hair on one side of her face, “I-I mean, we didn’t catch a lot…” Rikka shot her friend an exasperated look, adjusting Ai in her arms, while Alice tilted her head quizzically to the side, “Who’s Rewind, if you do not mind me asking?”   
So far, Chromedome had been able to put up a thin wall in his processor, just strong enough to stop everything from crashing down on him. Everything: the escape from the Lost Light’s basement, the desperate fight through the ship and then praying to Primus as the countdown for dropping cargo sounded.   
“He’s…Rewind is—was…”   
He was only saved from answering when Ai began crying, and Rikka reacted immediately, rocking and trying to soothe the baby, “Ai, its alright, there’s no Selfish to get you…” However, Makoto was already running to the garage’s exit, “But it’s a sign something’s wrong!” She yelled over her shoulder, and Aguri followed her. Mana and Rikka exchanged a nod, and Chromedome looked at them helplessly, “Like the monster I landed on? Uh, should I stay…here?”   
The last to leave, Alice gave him a reassuring smile, “Do not worry—we’ll be able to handle it. If you need anything, you can contact my butler through the intercom.” A polite curtsey, and she left. Glancing back and forth in the now empty space, Chromedome sighed, and went back to leaning against the wall. 

The first surprise that they got was that all three of the agents were facing them. Ira looked tense and irritable; his eyes kept glancing around like he couldn’t relax into his usual arrogance. Mamo had her fan up, but from the set of her shoulders said she was on edge as Ira, while Bel looked as unaffected by his companions as usual.   
The second surprise was what was behind them—far larger than Chromedome, with bright red eyes and a cruel smirk.   
“Precures, how nice you are here on time.” Bel greeted them casually, “Allow me to introduce our new compatriot, Overlord.” He gestured behind him, and the robot made a dismissive sound, “And these are your greatest enemies?” His tone was bored. “How disappointing.”   
“They were made specifically to combat us.” Bel informed him, “We were at a disadvantage.”  
“I did not ask for excuses.” Overlord cut him off, shocking the older man, and stepped over them, “Well, Pretty Cure…I’ve heard a lot about you.”   
Far below, Mana swallowed, “We’re only interested in fighting the Selfish Kingdom—we know you and…”  
“And?” He interrupted her, suddenly down on one knee so he was closer to them, “Oh, so there’s another down here?”   
“Do you…know him?” Rikka shot Mana a quick look, “Heart, don’t—“ She tried, but Overlord spoke over her, “Perhaps.”  
“He said his name is Chromedome.”   
A smile grew across Overlord’s face, “I see. We do know each other…very well.”  
His hand moved almost too fast for them react, and Mana found herself painfully shoved back by Alice, a glowing shield appearing instantly to block his palm, “Nonetheless, you are still an enemy.” She glanced back at their leader, “Heart, are you alright?” Rikka helped Mana up, and Makoto jumped, landing lightly on Overlord’s arm and running towards his face.  
“Oh? Humans. I’ve heard about your tenacity.” He pulled back, revealing cracks across Alice’s shield, and swung his arm, sending Makoto flying into a building, “Though it hardly matters in the face of overwhelming odds.” He hummed a thoughtful note, lifting a foot to stomp on Alice, and she abandoned her shield to roll out of the way, “Do try to put up a good fight. I hate being bored.”   
Pulling herself out of the building, Makoto grit her teeth, “…Fine.” Bracing her feet on the building, she suddenly pushed off, moving almost too fast for the eye to follow, one hand pulled back to punch. It connected solidly with the side of Overlord’s face, and he laughed, “Good!” His arm swung again, and Makoto had to jump to avoid it, “Show me what power you have!” He swung again, forcing Rikka to cut off her attack to dodge, “Go on, Pretty Cures, show me what this world has to defend itself.”   
“Fine.” Makoto dived in again, “Flash! Holy Sword!” The arc of purple energy seemed to catch Overlord off guard, and he grunted, raising an arm to block it. The attack hit his thick armor, but he grinned when it ended, “Too bad.” With incredible speed, he lunged again, and Makoto tried to dodge as his hand smashed into the building behind her, grazing her as she moved a second too late. Regrouping with the others on top of another building, she bit down on her lip to stop a sound of pain escaping, even as she fell to one knee.  
“Cure Sword!” At once, Mana was next to her, “I’m fine, Heart. We need to come up with a plan.”  
“You’re hurt.” Rikka put a hand on her shoulder, and Makoto grit her teeth, her fingers curling into a fist, “I can still fight.”   
“Oh, please do.” Overlord’s voice was suddenly alarming close, and he brought his fist down on them, “I’m still bored.” Alice leapt in front of them, her shield up again, and there was the sound of a explosion as the metal fist connected with it, sparks from both of them raining down, “Heart! Diamond! Hit him!” She urged them quickly, trickles of sweat making its way down from her forehead, “I can—I can hold him.”  
“Oh, can you? The pressure increased as Overlord put more force behind it, and Alice’s heels started sinking into the cracks appearing in the building. Sharing a nod, Rikka and Mana leapt in sync, running and leaping towards Overlord’s face, “Rosetta can!” Mana assured him, “I believe in her!”  
“How endearing. I’ll enjoy crushing her then.”   
“You’ll crush no one!” Rikka yelled, blue energy gathering around her, “Diamond Shower!” The projectiles hit Overlord directly in the face, and he grunted as they hit his eyes, “A useless effort.”  
“Nothing is useless for your friends!” Mana yelled from his other side, “Heart Shoot!” The pin blast hit his other eye, and he roared, pulling his hand away from Alice’s shield, only to bring both down in a hammer strike, “Good! Put up more of a fight!”  
“Rosetta! Get out of the way!” Mana was already on the move, but Overlord was faster, and the combined impact of both of his fists made the building collapse with a resounding crash.   
“You monster!” Rikka yelled, fighting to be heard over the sounds of destruction, “Take this—Diamond Shower!” She dived forward as she fired, and the shards of energy hit his eye again, making him roar, swinging an arm as she temporarily blinded him on one side.   
“Overlord!” The sudden sound of calm clapping made the combatants freeze, and Bel took his candy out of his mouth. Behind him, Mamo and Ira had given up trying to hide their shock at Overlord, “Why don’t we leave them to stew for a while? His Majesty would like to meet you as well.” The giant made a dismissive sound, but nodded, “I am interested in meeting this King of yours as well. Farewell, Precures.”   
“Stop! We’re not done!” Mana’s protests went unheard by him and both the Agents and Overlord disappeared in a flash of black energy.   
Landing beside the rumble, Rikka started shaking, “We…we couldn’t do anything to stop him…what—what is he?”  
Taking her friend’s hand, Mana gave it a reassuring squeeze, as much of a comfort to the other girl as it was to her, “We’ll find a way to beat him.” Before stepping forward, and started to move pieces of the building aside, “We have to find Sword and Rosetta—and anyone else who was injured.”   
“Afterwards…we have to talk to Chromedome again.” They both nodded and started digging, slowly joined by other people.  
Suddenly, Mana let out a cry of surprise, and Rikka almost ran to her friend’s side, “What is it?”  
“Rosetta! I knew she could do it!” Following Mana’s gaze, Rikka gasped too. While Overlord’s attack had collapsed the building, the yellow Cure’s shield had held, the disks of energy surrounding them in a tight dome, “…Amazing.” Rikka felt faint now that she was sure her other friends were safe, “Rosetta! Overlord left—its okay now!” Slowly, almost painfully slow, the shield started to disappear, gradually revealing Cure Rosetta standing on shaking legs, Makoto and the other inhabitants of the building under her shields, “…Diamond? Heart?” The last of the shields disappeared and Mana ran to catch her as Alice’s legs gave out, “Thank…goodness.”   
As Rikka helped Makoto up, the purple Cure continued to stare at Alice, something like awe in her dark eyes, “…She saved everyone. The shields appeared and drew everyone to her, even as the building collapsed.” She looked down at the arm she had pulled protectively to her side, “…I couldn’t do anything.” Opening her mouth to assure her that she did do something, Rikka found she couldn’t say anything, and closed it, instead putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.   
The Cures limped away, Mana almost carrying Alice, and Makoto staring at the ground rather than any of them. 

\-- --

Sitting in Alice’s mansion, Aguri’s expression was a mix of pain and regret, watching the other Cures patch themselves up, Alice almost collapsed from fatigue.  
“…I should have been there too.” Her voice was quiet, “I should have done something.”   
“Aguri…” Mana reached over to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but the younger girl shook it away, “I’m a Pretty Cure too! I should have stood up to Overlord!” In Rikka’s lap, Ai made a small, sad sound, and the blue haired girl made a soft noise of comfort to the baby. Tears began to well up in the corners of Aguri’s eyes, and she rubbed them away, “…What…what else happened?”  
Further down the couch, Makoto’s eyes narrowed, and she shifted to lean forward, before standing up, “He knows Chromedome—and Chromedome’s hiding something. I can feel it.”   
“I don’t think Chromedome is working with Overlord, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Rikka said reproachfully, standing as well, “But if he knows anything…”  
“We need to know. It might help beat Overlord next time.” Mana stood as well, followed by Aguri. Alice attempted to, but she fell back against the couch, “I am afraid…I will have to stay here.”  
“That’s alright, Alice.” Rikka stepped closer to hand her Ai, “Just rest.” The yellow Cure nodded as they left, heading to the separate garage.

Inside, Chromedome had his thin legs pulled up to his chest, visor resting on his knees. Mana opened her mouth to say a greeting, but Makoto strode past her, “Chromedome.”  
He looked up, “…What happened?”  
“We were attacked by someone else like you.” Makoto crossed her arms as best as she could with one arm wrapped in bandages, “Someone named Overlord.” The moment the name left her lips, the atmosphere became tense, and Chromedome slowly unfolded himself from his sitting position, “…Overlord…are you sure?”  
“He said he knew you.”  
The visor darkened, “…Impossible.”  
“He was there. He fought us—and we lost.”   
“Impossible, he can’t be here.”  
“How so, then?” Aguri joined them, “Why is it impossible? What do you know about him?”  
“He can’t be here…” Chromedome lifted his head to look at them, “Because he’s dead. I killed him.”   
Mana didn’t breathe for a second, before running forwards, “You—you killed him? But he’s—he’s here! He attacked us!”  
“Then I don’t know!” Chromedome’s voice was rising in something akin to distress, static tingeing his words, “Because he was dead when I was on the Lost Light!” He curled up again, “…I don’t know anything else.”  
“He said you knew each other very well—what did he mean?” Makoto pressed, ignoring Mana’s protests about pushing him, “How do you know him?”  
Suddenly, Chromedome lunged forward, making her jump back, one hand slamming onto the ground as he pushed his face close to theirs, “You asked me who Rewind was—I’ll tell you who Rewind was. Rewind was the one mech I loved more than anything, and I owe everything to. Rewind’s death is—is on Overlord.” His other hand twitched, like he was fighting himself from doing something, “I killed Overlord because that would be the end of it.”   
For a minute, nobody moved, the air tense as the vents in Chromedome’s engine sputtered, making sounds like pained gasps as he struggled to control his emotions.   
Hesitantly, Mana took a step forward, and then another, growing confident until she was standing by Chromedome’s arm. Gently, she put a hand on it, able to feel the angry charges beneath his armor. Another moment of hesitation, and then she hugged his arm as best as she could.   
Chromedome made a sound like a sob, and he seemed to shrink as his anger drained out, and Mana made a comforting noise.  
Another minute passed, and then Mana stepped back, keeping one hand still on his arm, “…Are you alright?”  
“…No, but—but I’ll live.” He looked back at them, “I’m sorry.”   
“It’s alright.” Mana assured him, and glanced back at Makoto, whose face betrayed none of her thoughts. “We just…we’re scared too. We have to protect everyone, it’s our duty as Pretty Cure.” He nodded, “…I don’t know how much I can help.” He admitted, “I’m not a warrior.”   
“Anything at all can help.” Rikka added, “Anything you can.”   
Letting out a loud sigh, he uncurled, back to leaning against the wall, slowly pulling his hand away from the ground, “…I don’t know how you can beat him.” He finally said, “Overlord—he’s, or at least was, a part of the ‘Cons plan to devastate planets.” Another sigh, “I only—I only killed him because of where we were. The place where I was let me trap him, and then it was jettisoned off, where we could blow it up. Even then…he rampaged through the Lost Light. We couldn’t stop him.”   
He raised an arm to study his palm, so he didn’t have to look at them, before leaning forward, like he had discovered something on his hand that he had forgotten, “…There might be a way.”  
The girls perked up, crowding closer to him, “What do you mean, ‘might’?” Makoto asked, and Chromedome looked away from his hand to them, “I think I can do it, but he’ll need to be captured—and held down some how.”   
“We can do that!” Mana said quickly and excitedly, ignoring Aguri and Makoto’s glances at her, “You can count on us, Chromedome!”  
“Good to know.” Hesitating for a second, he held up his fist and she knocked her smaller fist against his, “Good to know.” 

At of the rubble was cleared away, but there was still a hole in most of the ceiling, and the lanes were unusable. Sitting on the couch, Ira glowered at Bel, who ignored him, while Mamo sneered in between taking sips of her drink. In the clear space he had created with his first entry, Overlord made a thoughtful hum, the meeting with the Selfish King hadn’t yielded anything for him, but he was willing to wait.   
“So the Precures have a robot too.” Bel mused to himself, “What a small world. Overlord, did you say you knew their robot?”  
“Yes…Chromedome. Fate has a funny way of working out…” He seemed to be only half listening to what the man was saying, his metal fingers loosely intertwined in front of his face as he thought, “…I know what he will try.” The trio below perked up, and Bel casually leaned closer, “…And I’ll let him work. It will be more satisfying this way.”   
“Care to explain to us poor souls who can’t read minds?” Mamo asked, setting her empty glass aside, her fan snapping closed irritably, despite Bel’s warning glance.   
Overlord didn’t even spare a look down at her, “Don’t you have chaos and darkness to sow in the human race?” He asked back, his tone bland enough to let them know he was mocking them. Mamo scowled, unfolding her fan to hold in front of her face.   
Behind his fingers, Overlord smirked.   
After another minute of tense silence, Ira suddenly pulled himself up, hands shoved in his pockets and walking towards the exit. From behind his sunglasses, Bel’s eyes followed him.   
“Ira, where do you think you’re going?”   
“To do my duty as an agent of the kingdom, old man.” His voice sounded like he was forcing it out from behind gritted teeth, his boots sounding loud against the wood floor, “Not play around with some new toy.”   
Overlord’s eyes moved to rest on him, and Ira fought to not allow a reaction to show on in his body, “So I’m going to create some Selfish and cause some chaos.”   
As the boy left the building, Overlord chuckled to himself, “Let him do as he likes. It does not hold any impact to what I plan to do.” 

After much convincing and arguing, Makoto stayed back with Alice and Ai in the Yostuba mansion, resting and talking more to Chromedome. With the appearance of another Selfish, it fell to Mana, Rikka and Aguri to fight it.   
Ira looked more irritated than usual, snapping orders at the monster, which looked like a giant stag beetle and a taxi, kicking at whatever debris the Selfish happened to accidentally knocked close to him.   
“Ira!” He scowled at Mana’s voice, “I heard that overgrown tin can knocked you Cures around!” Launching himself up into the sky, he crossed his arms while the Selfish whined, “Lame. Overlord is all talk.” Pointing down at them, he allowed his dark expression to turn into a grin, “Well? Destroy them, Selfish! Run over everything!” With a screech, the monster started to run towards them, and the girls took a fighting stance.   
“I’ll take it.” Aguri said quickly, “Heart, Diamond, circle around so its distracted.” They nodded, and started running, circling around the Selfish, which lot out another whine as it attempted to turn in different directions to follow them.  
“Ace! Focus your fire on Cure Ace!” Ira yelled down at it, dropping from the sky to bounce on its shell, “They’re just distracting you!”   
“Don’t worry too much,” Aguri told him with a smirk, uncapping one of the lipstick colors, “We didn’t need to distract you for long. Ace Shot!”  
Glancing around in alarm, both the Selfish and Ira realized that Mana and Rikka were on either side of them.  
“Diamond Shower!”  
“Heart Shoot!”   
With a frustrated yowl, Ira leapt back up into the air, leaving the Selfish to be hit with all three beams of light.   
The monster dissolved, Aguri let out a long breath, “…Looks like he didn’t show up this time.”  
“It’s for the better.” Rikka said comfortingly, “Overlord is too strong for only three of us, and if Chromedome says is right, then its best if we follow his plan.”   
“Don’t worry, Cure Ace.” Mana added, “It’ll be fine.” 

When the returning trio entered the garage, there was a large map of the city spread out across the floor. Alice was looking better, still holding Ai, while Makoto was pointing out a route along the roads with a laser pointer. Chromedome had moved from where he had been against the wall, and was resting one arm on his knee, “…Overlord isn’t going to fall for tricks. He’ll probably know something is going on.”  
“Then why are we planning this?” Makoto asked, glancing up at them as they approached, while Alice gave them a smile when they sat on the ground next to her. “If a trick isn’t going to work, why are we planning for it so much?”  
“He’ll follow me.” Chromedome reasoned, “He’s a sadist, if he can rub in—rub in what he did and what he caused, he’ll follow me.”   
“So the trick relies on him knowing it’s a trick and following anyways.” Aguri spoke up, making Chromedome turn his head to look at her, “Uh, yeah, I guess.”   
“What’s the plan when we go immobilize him?” Rikka asked, leaning forwards slightly to look at the map, “And where are we—you—leading him?”   
“We were thinking here.” Makoto clicked on the pointer and lead it down from the city towards the banks of the river, “And we’ll trap him here,” In the warehouse district, which was usually empty, “And Chromedome will be able to…do what he plans.” Clicking the pointer off, she looked up at him, “…What are you going to do?”  
“A trick.” He said, his tone not inviting any more questions, “It will—or it should—keep him down. I used it on him before. It’s a sore point for his pride.” One of his fingers tapped against his leg thoughtfully, “…But if it doesn’t work, aim for his eyes, because you’ll never get through his armor.”   
Remembering their battle with the giant, Rikka nodded, “And stay on your toes,” She added, “Overlord is fast, and he won’t try the same trick twice.”   
“I can block his punches, but he knows that.” Alice said thoughtfully to herself, “I can be creative though—and maybe the shields can be used to get through his armor.”   
“Hopefully you all won’t have to experiment.” Chromedome commented, “I don’t want to pull you into my fight.”   
“We’re friends—we fight together.” Mana said seriously, “Do you think Overlord will show up?”  
“He’ll show up when I show up,” Chromedome rubbed the front of his mask in thought, “He can’t resist rubbing acid on the scratch.”   
“Then this is the plan?” Makoto looked at the other girls as they all nodded, “Good. We’ll all rest and heal, and then be ready to take him down.” 

\-- --

Makoto spent the next few days on edge, testing her healing arm and running patrols whenever she was able to. It was unusually quiet, only punctuated once or twice by Ira attempting to fight again.   
For those days, Alice mostly stayed in bed, unused to using that much energy. The robot—Chromedome—in her garage had been sympathetic, and then had gone on a tangent when talking to Mana about his old buddy who could create force fields as well.   
Finally, when she unwrapped the bandages from her arm and flexed her fingers, feeling the muscles move without tingeing. From a couch, Mana was watching her movements carefully, “Is it all healed, Makopi?”  
“Feels like it.” Carefully moving her arm from the elbow, and then the shoulder, Makoto allowed herself a small smile, “I’m all healed.” Lowering her arm, she glanced at the other girls on the couch, “What about you, Alice?” Taking a sip of tea, Alice nodded, “I’ve regained my energy, thanks to much rest.” In Rikka’s lap, Ai giggled, and Alice smiled gently, reaching over to tease the baby with her hand, making Ai laugh even more. The smile on Mana’s face gained and edge of relief, and Rikka let out a small breath, her shoulders relaxing ever so slightly, “Thank goodness.”   
The door opened, and Aguri entered, her bag from school still over her shoulder. Taking in Alice’s body language and Makoto’s unbandaged arm, she nodded, “Excellent.” The five friends shared a smile—warm, and familiar, before the shorthaired girl’s expression turned business-like and serious, “Then its time.”  
“For the plan to get Overlord?” A shared nod, and Mana stood quickly, “Then lets tell Chromedome.” Rikka stood as well, still carrying Ai, “Go on ahead, Mana—Alice and I have to do something quickly.” She rearranged her hold on Ai, who looked slightly puzzled, “It will only take a minute.” Alice assured them, and Makoto nodded, following Mana and Aguri out.   
Letting out a breath, Alice walked the few steps to the wall with the small buzzer to summon her butler if he wasn’t at her side. Within a minute, there was a polite knock on the door, and an older man entered with a bow, “Yes, miss Alice?”  
“Sebastian.” Alice’s smile had a different tinge to it, and she nodded over to Rikka, who approached him and handed over Ai, “Can you watch Ai for us?”  
“She is not accompanying you?”  
“We’re doing something very dangerous—we want to leave her with someone we trust.” He nodded, and then his eyes widened when he processed the gravity of the blue haired girl’s words, “Dangerous? Miss Alice, what do you…”  
“I am very sorry, Sebastian,” Alice said as she walked to stand by her friend, “But we must do this.”  
“…Is it that monster from last time?” His voice was quiet, resigned and conflicted between protecting her and letting her do her duty. She nodded, “I am afraid so.”  
A moment passed, and then she curtsied, “I must go, Sebastian.”  
“I…I understand, Miss Alice. Please…please be safe.”  
“We shall try.”

When the last two Cures entered the garage, Chromedome looked up, his visor registering their entry, “Are you two good?” He asked, and Rikka nodded, “We’re ready.” The assembled Cures gave him some space as Chromedome flipped down into the ground vehicle Rikka had chased days ago, engine a low rumble.  
“Then let’s transform and roll out.”   
There was quiet, and then the car snorted, “I’ve always wanted to say that.” 

When the four Cures, with Aguri following at a safe difference, landed in the square, Ira, who had been perched on a lamppost, almost fell off with a squawk, “Hey! I’m supposed to summon a Selfish first!”  
“That’s great.” Makoto said flatly, “Where’s Overlord?”  
“I’m not the boss of that hunk of metal, how should I know?” Ira’s sneer morphed to alarm as Chromedome quickly transformed, visor flashing dangerously. Mana yelled something, but it was lost as his arm lunged forward, grabbing Ira mid-curse, “Where is he? WHERE IS OVERLORD?”  
“Stop it!” Rikka yelled, fighting to be heard over the angry roar of Chromedome’s engine, “Stop!” A tense minute passed, and then he dropped Ira, Engine still working heavily. The boy coughed, glaring as best as he could at the robot, “…Tch. I don’t know where Overlord is, but he’ll be here soon. He’s been looking forward to taking all of you apart.”   
“He can get a rain check on that.” If they could see his face, Mana was sure there was a sneer on Chromedome’s face, “He hasn’t made good on that promise to me.”   
“Oh, but my dear surgeon, there’s always tomorrow.” The deep, dark voice behind them made all of them turn so quickly that the wheels on his heels squeaked. Overlord’s smile was in place, and he looked down at the girls and Chromedome, “Well, I suppose I should congratulate you all on such a fine recovery. I do hope you last longer this time.” To the side, Mamo and Bel appeared, the older man watching Overlord with avid interest, but the woman quickly pulled Ira to his feet and tugging him behind her.   
“But games can come later.” Overlord’s fist suddenly came down, and Chromedome dived forwards, transforming mid-flight to his vehicle mode and accelerating down the street, the Cures following behind, shooting energy up at the giant’s face. With an interested noise that turned into a growl, Overlord gave chase, “Now where are you going? I hope this won’t be like the Lost Light—those were not fun at all. Jetting me off, naught a fight between us…but, you’re not a fighter. That’s not what you do.” His footfalls made the ground shake, and he easily brushed away a beam of diamonds from Rikka, “What a temper you have—I thought it would never crop up again. You should have crushed the human.” The only response he got was Chromedome’s tires screeching as he picked up more speed around a corner, the buildings around them getting thinner as they approached the warehouse district.  
“Is this a desperate, heroic attempt to contain the fight?” Overlord sounded amused, “How quaint. I could tell you about heroics—how the Wreckers all but died at Garrus 9. Crushing planets that attempted to put up a fight.” His red eyes grew brighter, “Escaping that cage.”   
Braking to a sudden stop, Chromedome transformed back, “You’ve made your point, Overlord, you’re a big, bad Phase Sixer and everything you touch explodes for no reason.” His tone was angry, confrontational, and the larger mech laughed, “You’re still terrified of me.” Another swing of his arms, and the Cures scattered, landing on the rooftops of the warehouses, “But you know what I think?”  
“I couldn’t give a rusty tailpipe about what you think, monster.”  
“I think you’re in anguish now—because I might survive your ploy. And that minibot’s sacrifice was for nothing. Your mistake all the greater.” The smile, which had never left Chromedome’s face, grew nightmarish, “It was your fault I got out, you know. Your mistake during the neural link let me out. Those deaths are on you.”   
“Shut the frag up.” Chromedome growled, hands tightening into fists, “Shut the frag up and burn in the Pit.”   
On the roofs of the warehouses, Mana stared at Chromedome, watching his shake with fury, “Chromedome! Remember what we’re going to do!”   
“Oh?” Suddenly, Overlord’s attention was on her, “And what do you plan on doing?”  
“This!” A new voice joined them as the red figure of Cure Ace jumped from the road, “The trump card of love, Cure Ace! Ace Shot!” The purple beam hit the arm Overlord had been moving, and his smirk become a snarl when it didn’t move, “What? What is this?”  
Without warning, Rikka and Mana ran forwards, leaping into the sky with their fists already glowing with power.   
“Diamond shower!”  
“Heart Shoot!”   
The two attacks hit his face as he struggled with his frozen arm, making his growl and swing with his free hand. Further behind, Alice let the pink pad appear in her hand, gold energy now surrounding it, “Rosetta…Balloon!” With a pop, the balloon exploded into vines, decorated with yellow flowers, whipping out and wrapping around Overlord’s legs as he swung at the three Cures in the air. Tightening their hold, the vines latched onto the ground, “What is this? Have you recruited children?”   
“We’re Pretty Cure!” Makoto suddenly yelled, “Sword Hurricane!” Off balance by the unexpected ferocity, Overlord toppled over, the vines following up his body to stay on the ground.   
His red eyes fixed Chromedome in their sights as the smaller mech approached, one hand on clenched in a fist, “So…you are doing this again.”  
“I would say sorry, but I’m not.”  
“Again with the bravado? We both know that stepping into my mind is one of the things you fear most.” Chromedome’s expression, what was visible behind his mask, didn’t change, and he held up one hand, the tips of his fingers suddenly opening to extend long needles, “What do you know about me, Overlord?”  
“I know that memories have so little meaning for you, from playing with others’.” Overlord sneered, “This was the only way you thought you could bring me down.”  
“Chromedome…” Mana landed on the ground as he stepped closer to Overlord, “…What is he talking about?”  
“Nothing you need to worry about.” Chromedome’s answer was quick, “I’ll just do my part now.”  
“Are those…needles? Chromedome, what are you going to do?”  
“I’ll rearrange his memories, like last time I had him tied down—but this time, I won’t be so nice.” Chromedome was right in front of his now, “I can’t kill you, but I’ll make you a drooling piece of scrap. And Autobot high command will thank me.”   
“Chromedome!” Mana suddenly jumped in front of him, ignoring her friends’ yells, “You’re—you’re going to destroy his memories?”  
“Get out of my way, Mana. He deserves this. I’m not going to destroy just his memory; I’m going to destroy everything. He won’t be a threat to anyone ever again.”   
The tense stand off between them was broken by Overlord’s deep chuckle, “I suppose you never told them about your profession as a mnemosurgeon? You’re trained to go through memories—anyone’s memories. Those needles are proof.”   
“Shut the frag up, or I’ll start with pain relapse cycle.” Chromedome tried to move forward, but Mana blocked him, “Mana, get out of my way. This is the only way to take him down.”  
“Chromedome, you can’t—“  
“He killed Pipes, Rewind, and whole planets. He’s beyond a murderer, he’s a monster, and he doesn’t deserve your pity.”  
“But if destroy his memories—his mind—with those…those needles, are you better than him?”  
“I am!” Chromedome’s voice rose to a yell, “I’m doing this for everyone on this planet, I’m doing this for Pipes and for Rewind, I’m doing this for Red Alert, and I’m doing this for Drift, who took the slagging fall when he escaped!” He stepped over the Cure, and stabbed his needles viciously into the metal in between Overlord’s eyes.  
The giant’s eyes grew wide as his mind suddenly discovered something was very, very wrong.   
“Chromedome! It will kill you!” Mana didn’t know what made her yell that, but Chromedome froze, his needles not moving, and it seemed like even Overlord didn’t move, for fear of breaking the tension.

The only sound came from the calm measure clapping as Bel walked up the road, “Bravo. You actually managed to bring him down.”   
“Who the frag are you?” Chromedome found his voice, and growled out the question, and Mana ran to face him, joined by the other Cures, “Bel. What do you want? We beat Overlord.”  
“I know. Good job, but…” He snapped his fingers, “That’s not what I’m after. We created Selfish, you fight them. So,” He snapped his fingers again, “Why don’t you fight this one?”  
They tensed for the sudden appearance for the Selfish, but it never came. “Wait—Heart, it’s a trap!” Aguri managed to yell because Chromedome screamed, the needles in Overlord’s head pulling out as he fell back in pain, a familiar darkness gathering from a spot in his chest.   
“Isn’t it surprising?” Bel asked casually, “It can work on these guys too. We all heard your rant about making a mess of Overlord’s brain for everyone else’s sake, but let’s be honest—you just want revenge, don’t you?” Chromedome screamed again, before a black mass of energy burst out from his chest, flying into the sky on a pair of devil wings.   
“Let’s see what sort of Selfish comes out of this.”   
It exploded into black energy, making the Cures jump back, until it reformed as a giant, even for Selfish sizes, monster, the middle section of it take up by a guillotine, and what looked like the marble statue of angels crowning it. Massive, metallic wings beat as it hung in the air, and Mana made a horrified sound, “No…”  
“That’s our new enemy.” Makoto said resolutely, “We have to bring it down.” Uncapping her lipstick, Aguri nodded, “I don’t have much time—I’ll go first.” Before they could say anything, she leapt forward into the air, “Ace—Mirror Flash!” The light hit the Selfish, and it let out a mournful sound, and then it retaliated. The wings beat once, and then twice, and then sword-like feather rained down from the sky, smashing into the ground and forcing the Cures to take cover, while Overlord roared when hit.   
“Cure Ace!” Mana yelled, “Chromedome!”   
“Heart, you can’t go out there!” Rikka grabbed her arm before her friend could move; “Those feather will tear any of us apart. They’re wounding Overlord.”  
“We have to defeat it!”  
“We all know that.” Makoto said, putting her hand on Mana’s shoulder, “But we can’t do it how Cure Ace did it.”   
Alice peeked out from the door of their hiding place, “…The Angels. On the top of it. Do you think…?”  
“Could they be its weak point? Makoto joined her, squinting at the Selfish in the sky, “…There’s something written on the scroll detailing around them… Scattergun… Mach… Pivot… and… Rewind…”   
“Are they names?” Alice asked, and Makoto shrugged, “I don’t know, but the angels—they might be his weak point.”  
“We’d better move, then,” Rikka pointed up at the ceiling, which had dents front the hail of swords, “I think it figured out where our hiding place is.”   
“On the count of three,” Mana nodded at each of them, “We run and jump and get up there to destroy the angel statues.” They nodded back.  
“One.”  
The ceiling screeched from the strain.  
“Two.”  
The Selfish above made another mournful sound.  
“Three.”   
Overlord roared in pain as the ceiling gave in, and the Cures darted out, using the buildings as steps up in the air to the Selfish, which dropped the blade in its guillotine middle threateningly.   
“Now!” Mana yelled at the top of her lungs, twisting to the side to dodge one of the sword-feathers, “Heart Shoot!” The Selfish screeched in pain as the statue with the scroll labeled ‘Scattergun’ was destroyed, “Got it!”   
“Heart, give me a step up!” Nodding to her friend, Mana held her hands together and let Rikka jump from them, hands in front of her, “Diamond Shower!” The angel with ‘Mach’ fell to pieces, and the Selfish suddenly swung it wings around, smashing them to the side into the buildings around them.   
“Cure Heart! Cure Diamond!” Alice quickly pulled up a glowing shield to defend herself from another wave of sword-feathers, “Cure Sword, do it now!” The purple Cure already ahead of her, “Sword Hurricane!” Both the ‘Pivot’ and the ‘Rewind’ statue were suddenly destroyed in a flurry of light, and the Selfish let out another mournful sound, before slowly crashing to the ground.   
Landing safely, Alice pulled away a fallen piece of a building to reveal Mana and Rikka, bruised and groaning in pain, but still alive, “Heart! Diamond! Thank goodness…” Her and Makoto helped them up, and the pink Cure looked around quickly, “Where’s Cure Ace? Is she alright?”  
The other three girls looked at each in alarm, before a bout of coughing caught their attention. Some of the pieces of the building had fallen on Chromedome’s body, but the shifted, pushed to the side as Aguri staggered to her feet, her Pretty Cure form flickering around her, “I can…I can still fight.”   
“Then—then let’s finish this!” All five Cures faced the giant Selfish on the ground, hands raised, “Lovely…Straight Flush!”  
The rainbow energy hit the Selfish, and it let out one last cry before disappearing into the light, temporarily blinding everyone around it.   
By the road, Bel swore under his breath and quickly vanished. On the ground, Overlord roared in pain as fire consumed him, as if he had been hit with more weapons than rays of light, before he disappeared.   
When it dissipated, Cure Ace fell to her knees, reverting back to Aguri, “We…we did it…” But Mana was running back before anyone said anything more, “Chromedome! Wake up!”   
The bright light, no longer carried by devil wings, settled back down into his chest, and he gasped like he had been shocked as the black mark disappeared, “M-Mana? All of you? What did I—what did I do?”  
“Bel, one of the Selfish trio, ambushed us and turned your heart into a Selfish.” Mana came to a stop next to him as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. Slowly, he looked around, “…Where’s Overlord?”  
“He disappeared in the light, but I think—I think he’s gone now. For good.”   
Chromedome made a sound like he wanted to protest, but the rest of the Cures joined them, “You’re alright!” Rikka said, relief evident in her voice, and Chromedome weakly laughed, “I could say the same thing about you all.”   
“Is it…is it over?” Alice asked, and he shrugged, “I guess so. Now I have to figure out how to get back home.”   
With a pained groan, he pulled himself to his feet, walking a little ways away while Mana and Rikka turned to tend to Aguri. The sound of heels on metal made him turn to look to his side, where Makoto and Alice had followed him on the roof of one of the buildings still standing around them.  
“…Is something up?”  
“There was something about your Selfish that’s bothering me.” Makoto said bluntly, and Chromedome tilted his head to the side slightly, “…What about it?”  
“There were some names on it—some names that were important to you, I think, but I only recognized one.” Alice nodded and picked up after Makoto finished speaking, counting each name off on her fingers, “There was Scattergun, Mach, and Pivot…and Rewind.” For a second, his visor flickered, “…So?”  
“Who are the first three?”  
“No idea. I’ve never heard those names before in my life.”   
She opened her mouth to say more, but something behind them made all three turn to face them. Aguri was on the ground, but pointing straight at him, “Chromedome! You’re—you’re disappearing!” In alarm, he jerked his head down, scanning both his hands and his feet.  
“Oh, slag.”  
“What’s going on?” Mana asked worriedly, while Chromedome waved his vanishing limbs in a futile attempt to shake off the effects, “I-I don’t know!”  
“I think—I think, maybe…” Rikka bit her lip in thought for a second, “Do you think you could be going back?”  
“What?”  
“Going back to the lost light. You appeared suddenly, and now you’re going back.” He stopped shaking, now just staring at his arms, which were almost gone, and then down to his legs, which were barely there, “…I guess. I’d like to think so.”   
“Is that it?” Makoto asked, “You just disappear?”  
“I guess so.”  
Mana quickly ran forward, “Then—then good luck! We’ll remember you!”  
“I’ll remember you guys.” He promised, “Even when I go back, I’ll remember this.” His visor brightened, “Wait, I have tell—I--!” He vanished, cutting off his voice, leaving them alone in the empty lot of buildings.   
Makoto and Alice leaped down from the roof to join their friends, “…We’ll remember him. And everything that happened.” Mana nodded, watching Rikka join them, helping support Aguri, “It’s too important not to.” 

Drifting through space, Chromedome regarded the passing stars from his room, the needles in his hand flicking in and out in time with his thoughts. Finally, he retracted them, walking to the screen on the wall and inserting a data-slug into the computer again.  
“Your attention for a moment,” The recording began again, “This is—Rewind…”


End file.
